


The Broken Promise

by LynnMashihita



Category: Gokusen - All Media Types, Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment, Kis-My-Ft2 (Band)
Genre: Angst, Gen, You will still be disappointed by the end of the chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-05-19 09:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14871401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynnMashihita/pseuds/LynnMashihita
Summary: They didn’t need anything else in the world. They only needed that simple thing, being there for each other, no more, no less.Another story ofSecret Untold





	1. The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> this story will tell from Reita's point of view.  
> Honestly, I cried while writing this story before.  
> Hope you will enjoy this one too
> 
> Ah!  
> Aoshiba is an elite school mentioned in Gokusen Season 3 Episode 3.  
> As Honjo said in that episode: ‘Isn’t that where the really smart kids go?’
> 
> and Bold sentences mean the real dialogues from the drama. you will find them in chapter 4  
> :)  
> Have a nice reading ^_^

The sky was so blue. It looked like a blue wrapper for the white cotton candies that spread here and there. The sun shone brightly in the middle of the summer, as smiled to the world, and assured everybody that life’s so beautiful so all people should enjoy it to the fullest.  
  
Like the two kids who were running along the river side, chasing each other and ended up in a pile of bodies overlapped one to another when the one who ran in the front stumbled and fell to the ground. Still, they laughed loudly to their heart, not minding scratches that formed in red lines on their feet and hands.  
  
When the tiredness attacked them from laughing out loud, they lied down on the green grass and staring at the sun in the sky only to receive it glaring back at them in full force. The sun gave them its powerful light, reminded them that it was the most powerful creature in the world.  
  
“Ok, ok. You win. I’m sorry for glaring at you, Mr. Sun.” One of them sat down on his feet and bowed his head until it reached the ground, and received a really loud laugh from the other.  
  
“Are you stupid? He won’t forgive you, you know! Look! No matter how hard you asked, he is still mad at you. You won’t receive his forgiveness, Yamato. Am I right, Mr. Sun?”  
  
The kid called Yamato looked up to the sky and once again bowed his head down to the ground. “Oh. My dear Sun, why don’t you forgive me? I’m so sorry for staring at you. Please? I won’t do that again. Please forgive my recklessness. It was my friend Reita who told me to challenge you.”  
  
“Oi! Don’t mention my name! You’ve promised to keep it as a secret.”  
  
“See, Mr. Sun? He tried to run away from his fault. He doesn’t even feel guilty for making me challenge you. Please, Mr. Sun, if you should punish me then you should punish him too.”  
  
“Oi!” With that Reita strangled him until they fell to the ground together. Yamato couldn’t hold his laughter when Reita tickled him for the reward of his complaint.  
  
Sometimes later, they lied down again side by side, watching the blue sky and the smiled sun.  
  
“Aoshiba, right?” asked Yamato after a while.  
  
“Yes. You can enter any middle school but you have to promise me that you will go to Aoshiba High School no matter what.”  
  
Yamato raised his hand and offered his little finger to him. “Promise?”  
  
Without word Reita reached the finger and linked his with Yamato’s little finger. “Promise.”  
  
They smiled each other after making the promise and faced the sky again. The wind blew their bangs softly and they closed their eyes, tried to feel the comfort for being there for each other. They decided to reach the bright future together. They smiled, proud of themselves for being there for each other, dreaming the same future, the future where they would stay together no matter what happened. The future they would share all of the happiness and sorrow, the future where they would smile and cry together.  
  
Together.  
  
It was the key word.  
  
If they stayed together, everything would be easy.  
  
If they stayed together, every problem could be solved right away.  
  
If they stayed together, everything would be just fine.  
  
They didn’t need anything else. Being there for each other made their heart beating steadily. The comfort they felt for being there for each other was enough. Having your best friend stayed beside you always was enough. They didn’t need anything else in the world. They only needed that simple thing, being there for each other, no more, no less.  
  
If.  
  
They stayed together.  
  



	2. Reminiscing

He was stunned when he faced a figure he had been looking for these times. For a moment he was flown back to his fond memories when they were little. He wanted to embrace him and held him while yelling _finally I found you_! But then his pride reminded him that Yamato didn’t deserve to get his longing expressions and his feeling of losing him over the years. Yamato had left him, broke their promise and moreover, annoyingly he didn’t look guilty at all.  
  
He could see Yamato bewildered at him. Yamato looked lost his words too, but then that stupid teacher interrupted their times. She grabbed Junpei’s fried noodle stuffed bread and ate it by herself. When everybody complained at her, she cut it to two parts and gave us, and stupidly, his friends received it gladly.  
  
 _Fine. Now this is who you are. Making friends with stupid persons made you stupid too._  
  
Reita looked at his friends and asked them to leave the fools who still complained about their fried noodle stuffed bread seized by their dumb teacher. Of course his friends followed him obediently.  
  
Friends?  
  
Nope.  
  
It’s wrong. They were just his followers. No more than that.  
  
 _Friend. What is it? I forgot everything about it. I have one before but he betrayed me. He didn’t fulfill his promise. He forgot it._  


  
~~~~ 

Yamato dazed off in the classroom. He didn’t care about his class. He didn’t pay any attention to what Yankumi said in front of the classroom. His mind was full of Reita.

_What is he doing here? Shouldn’t he at Aoshiba? He made it. He passed the entrance examination the last time I checked. He even colored his hair. He was proud of his black hair and promised that he would never change its color, but it’s brown now. And his expression, he changed. I didn’t see any warm aura on him again. It’s dark and gloomy. He tried to look tough and his eyes liked told everybody to stay away from him. What had happened to him?_

Yamato looked at his shoes. He remembered when he met him again for the first time in that game center down town. He wasn’t at his best day that day but he could remember clearly the way Reita snapped at him. He remembered his eyes clearly. They were full of anger. They were full of hatred. His glare somehow made him shivered, and it was still the same just now. The way he talked. It was different. He was someone else. He wasn’t his Reita. The Reita he knew was calm and kind. His voice was soothing and somehow he missed it. But just now, he was like giving a command to his troops. It was harsh, and sharp. He couldn’t feel the gentleness in it.

He stunned suddenly. His eyes widened on realizing something. He was like him few times ago, always ordering others to obey him.

A soft kick on his thigh made him looked up and turned to see Ren stared at him, asked him silently if he was okay.  
Yamato shrugged and leaned back to his chair. He almost jolted when he felt a hand touched his nape. A nausea suddenly hit him again and he stood up right away before dashed out the classroom.  


  
~~~~ 

Reita stood up in front of the door inside the cubicle in the restroom. He wasn’t really needed to go there but he was bored to death in the classroom. The teacher was boring as usual and his friends were annoyingly ignored him.

_Why doesn’t everybody try to listen to his explanation? What are they doing in school anyway? If they don’t have any intention on listening to the subject, they shouldn’t even go to school from the very beginning. And that stupid teacher wasn’t even tried to get mad at all. He didn’t even try to remind them to shut up and listen to his subject. He’s just another coward._

Reita sighed heavily. At a time like that, he was usually just walked out the school and wandered around the town but he was too lazy to do it.

No.

He wasn’t that lazy. He just wanted to be there in school. He found Yamato here. The person he tried to search all his life was here. He had to ask him why he didn’t go to Aoshiba.

_He promised, and he broke it. I need him to answer me. I need to hear his reason. What is he doing here anyway? Loitering around with those stupid persons, and taught by stupid teachers who only care about their pride of being a teacher without they realize that they actually don’t have that pride itself._

Reita sat on the toilet and started to reminiscence all the efforts he did to find him.

It was two years ago. He walked proudly to his new school. It wasn’t just because he passed the entrance examination smoothly, but also he would meet his friend.

His best friend.

The person he didn’t met for years.

Stupid isn’t it?

They lived next doors, yet they had never met each other after the promise. Yamato wasn’t at home all the time every time Reita went there to find him. When he was, his father would always say that he shouldn’t bother him because he was studying hard in his room for his next examination. He smiled and agreed the man and went away. It happened every time he went there. All the times. He never met him. He never went out to open the door for him. It was always his father and he would always say the same thing. Over and over again.

He then decided not to bother Yamato again. He thought he was trying hard to keep the promise. He decided that he should too. Prep school, library, his own room, were the only places he would often stay. His mother asked him to go out more but he refused.

_I have a promise and I have to fulfill it. He is trying hard then I have too._

But now, he wasn’t there. There’s no student with the name of Ogata Yamato in that school. He tried to check it again but always got the same answer. He went to his house and his father was the one who opened the door for him, again.

 _Why are you looking for him? Stay away from him,_ was the only answer he got from the man that day. He tried to ask more but the door suddenly closed in front of his face.

Many days he tried to find Yamato to ask for explanation but always failed. Then one morning, when he hurriedly ate his breakfast, his mother told him.

_He went the all boys-school down town. I don’t know where, but he changed. Do you know what happened to him? He even colored his hair. I didn’t recognize him at first, and I believe I would never recognize him if his friend didn’t call him that time._

Reita was too stunned to react, and after got his sense back to him he forced his mother to tell him more, only to receive nothing. His mother knew nothing aside of that he was a student of an all boys-school. Where, what school, she didn’t know. She only told him that his uniform was black, and it was a plain uniform of most high school in this country. No blazer, or tie, just a plain uniform. With that short of information, he decided to change school, and went to Ara just to be condemned to hell. More over, he didn’t find him there too. There’s no student with the name of Ogata Yamato in that school. He was too mad to himself for not checking everything first before going there, and it was too late for him to walk back when he realized that he was wrong. Each day he drowned deeply to his new life, a new world he had never entered before, and drowned completely after six months.

Reita sighed hardly and closed his eyes.

_I should’ve check first. I shouldn’t change school that quickly. It was totally my fault that I’m here right now._

He opened his eyes suddenly.

_No. this isn’t a fault. This is the right path for me to find him. I found him. If I stayed at Aoshiba I wouldn’t find him. Or, knowing how Yamato now, I would never find him all his life. If I didn’t move to Ara, I wouldn’t be kicked out of there and attending Akadou._

Reita smirked.

_I should thank those stupid teachers at Ara because they kicked me out of there, I found him._

He stood up and opened the door went the door of the rest room opened with a loud bang. A vomiting sound followed later. He peeked and his eyes widened when he saw Yamato was throwing up on the sink. He gripped the door knob, suppressing the urge feeling to sooth him.

_What happened? Is he okay?_

He saw him looked at the mirror silently. Yamato stared at it without blinking, like tried to communicate with his own shadow who stared back at him without words. He panted hard from the vomiting and looked suffered. He was pale. So pale until his tanned skin couldn’t hide it.

Reita wanted to go to him, soothed him, and give him comfort. But again, his pride confronted him not to go over him.

_Are you insane? He betrayed you._

He gripped the door knob even more, hurting his own hand unconsciously, and fighting hard to stay still on his place. His heart twisted and would win any time when he looked at Yamato. His face told him that he hid something. He clearly could see Yamato was suppressing the urge of crying, and he was about to walked out of the cubicle when suddenly Yamato turned around and walked out the restroom.

Reita slowly walked over the mirror where Yamato stood before. He looked at it. It stayed silent. He couldn’t read anything from it. The mirror didn’t tell him anything.

_Are you okay?_   



	3. The Guilt

Yamato closed his phone and looked up to the sky.  
  
 _He transferred to Ara after two months in Aoshiba. Nobody knew the reason. He was just fine here. No bully either. He got attention from the teachers because you know, he’s smart, right? I don’t know. I’m still curious about his reason to change school that sudden. And the last time I heard he moved again to Akadou last summer. Ah, you’re there, right? Do you see him? Have you met him? Tell him to call me if you finally meet him, okay?_  
  
He closed his eyes and tried to compose every piece of his memories back to his mind.  
  
Happiness, laughter, every of it was only joyful thing. There was no sign that everything would turn out like he felt now. Never once in his mind he saw any scenario which said that they would be separated like now. Never once in his mind he had planned to break their promise. He tried, hard.  
  
 _What am I doing here? Where all the efforts I did to enter Aoshiba back then?_  
  
He could only stare at Reita when they saw him hanged together out with some Ara graduated that night. He felt guilty swarmed over him looking at his childhood friend who was drowning himself into trouble.  
  
 _Is it really trouble? What if they just looked like trouble makers but actually they’re good guys? You can’t tell people by their looking, right?_  
  
But according to what Ren said, that he heard rumor that Ara graduated were getting themselves into deep shit, made him fall into a really deep thought.  
  
 _You can’t do this. You can’t hurt yourself more than this. You should get out of there. But how can I tell you that? You looked really mad at me. I don’t blame you. I was the one at fault. I betrayed you. I broke our promise. You should mad at me._  
  
“Yamato?”  
  
He startled and turned to Ren who gave him silent question if he was okay. He shrugged and followed his friends to walk away from the place.  


  
~~~~ 

Reita smiled but his heart was annoyed. He wanted to shrug the hand shouldered on him but his body betrayed him. It stayed still when he wanted to run. He was sick hearing their laughter. He didn’t feel the warmth he longed. That’s how best friend should be, right? Just like what he felt years ago. No feeling annoyed or forced smile. It was always genuinely came from his heart and always been spontaneously. He felt so light until sometimes he wondered how could he smile ear to ear for only a simple joke which was not funny at all actually. Deep inside his heart told him to stay away from these guys but he couldn’t move his feet away.

_What am I doing here? I found him. I should force him to spill every reason from him to betray me. I’ve tried hard to fulfill our promise. I knew he tried to. But why he didn’t fulfill it? It should be easy for him even without trying to enter Aoshiba. I knew he was a smart, and I know he is still a smart. His eyes told me. But why are you hiding it? What are you doing here? Meddling with stupid persons like them? This place isn’t suitable for you._

_No._

_The right question is what am I doing here? Meddling with these stupid persons like them. They didn’t look like good guys, anyway. They looked like persons who always broke the rules and always got themselves into trouble. I shouldn’t make friends with them, should I? I should stay away from them. I just have to think how to make Yamato talk to me and explain me why he betrayed me. I have to go now. I can’t stay longer than this._

Reita smiled and almost rolled his eyes when he heard stupid joke threw by the guys around him. He wanted to vomit. They smelt like booze. He felt like they were just coming from drinking party which he never knew that he would deal with.

No.

He was still didn’t want to deal with those stupid things. He was aware that he had drowned himself into a really unforgivable relationship with these people but he had a promise that he wouldn’t deal with drinks.

_Never._

He stunned for a moment when his eyes caught Yamato was staring at him. It wasn’t close at all so he could see his expression but he knew that his stare was blank. He could see a regret clearly drawn on his face.

_Promise? Isn’t that the thing I should deal with now? The promise I made with that stupid betrayer._

“Sorry, guys. I have to go now.”

Not waiting for the answer he walked away. He tried to catch up with Yamato but canceled his urge to grab him and drag him somewhere hidden when he saw Yamato was still loitering around with his friends, which looked didn’t really wanted to let Yamato walked alone.

He breathed heavily before decided to walk away.

_Fine. There will be a chance when I can corner you in school. There’s no way you will go everywhere with them. There must be a time where you will go alone. And that time I will not let you go._   


  
~~~~ 

A tap on his shoulder startled him. He turned around to see a wide smile plastered on one of his childhood friends.

“Wow! Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“It’s okay.” Yamato looked away to avoid his stare. “Just tell me. I still can’t believe about your story over the phone yesterday.”

The boy sat on the swing and started to swing forward. “Like the old times, aren’t we?” He smiled widely again.

Yamato glared at him. “Ken?”

“Fine. Okay. You get mad easily lately. I missed your smile, you know. And if Reita looked at you now, I’m sure he will say the same thing to you. He was fond of your smile back then.”

Again, Yamato just glared at him.

Ken sighed.

“Okay. I’ll tell you. As I told you over the phone yesterday, actually he passed the entrance examination to Aoshiba. As expected, right? And he was there for a while, almost three months if I’m not mistaken. We’re in different class though. He was in A, which contained with very smart students and I’m only in F, the last class of our grade, but I knew, all of the teachers were very proud of him. I remembered that they were always boasting about his brain, how diligent he was, how fast he finished all of his assignments, and almost no fault.”

Yamato looked down at his shoes.

Ken could clearly saw his face. He looked really down so he stopped his swing.

“Listen to me. I don’t know what had happened to you, and now Reita. But I know that you are still the smartest person I’ve ever knew. It’s not too late you know to start all over again. Being a student in Akadou doesn’t mean that you are a stupid. It is the society who stupidly judges us according from what school we attend. They don’t know us at all. Attending Aoshiba High School doesn’t mean that I’m smarter than you.”

Yamato chuckled. “I don’t care about that. I don’t care about what people say about me.”

“But I do.”

Yamato looked at his eyes and found sincerity on it.

Ken started to swing again. “I do really care, and I need you to know that.”

Yamato looked away. This friend of him had a sharp intuition, and very stubborn person. He was the only one of very few friends of him who hadn’t run away when he decided to attend Akadou High School. When the other people ran away, this person had stick closed to him and he even couldn’t shake him off. The harder he shook him off, the harder he would stick to him.

Ken stopped his swing and smiled to him before started to swing again.

“And then after three months suddenly Reita disappeared. Nobody knew where he went. We asked each other about what had happened to him but got no answer. We just whispering the questions around, don’t have any courage to voice out those questions to the board of teachers because all of them seemed tried hard to cover it.”

Yamato looked away. He saw a bunch of Kindergarten students passed by and waved their hands to a certain people in the car.

“And then one day, when I was doing an errand from my Mom, I saw him walking around with bunch of people with scary look. I tried to search and found out that he moved to Ara.”

Yamato knew. He had heard the news from him over the phone yesterday. Still, he bewildered hearing the news.

_Why Ara?_

Ken looked at him and smiled.

“Even you’re still surprised with this news. I told you this yesterday, didn’t I?” He chuckled slightly. “Nobody expect him to move over that school. It was so sudden. I’m still confused though about his moving. Why? That’s the only question stayed on my mind since the day I found out about the fact.”

Yamato looked at the busy street in front of him in silence.

“You’re the closest one to him. Why don’t you try to ask him?” He tapped his back before walked away, leaving Yamato alone in his busy mind.

_So, it’s all because of me. I couldn’t find any reason aside of it. You passed, yet you changed school that easy. You tried to find me, didn’t you? You went to Ara to find me, but I wasn’t there. When you found out that I wasn’t there it was too late for you to turn around. Aoshiba wouldn’t accept you back. You turned them down, and you had no choice except to drown yourself to your new life. If you want to survive in Ara then you should know the way to live there. It’s definitely not your fault. You just had to survive, and it was all because of me. You suffered. You had to go through the hard way because of me._

Yamato looked up to the dull sky. It was a busy morning like usual. People were walking down the street, squeezing each other at the bus stop, and chattering around to kill the time.

_Should I ask him apologize for breaking our promise? He had been through a lot of things just to find me. He lost his chance to get the best way to reach his future because of me. Will he forgive me that easy?_


	4. A Little Light

_Shit. Why it’s so hard to approach you? Why are you always together with those stupid friends of yours? Don’t you feel suffocated being surrounded with those stupid people around you all day?_  
  
He snapped when someone bumped on his shoulder, and smirked when a familiar face appeared in front of him. He really needed to punch now. Anyone. And he found one now. He irritated more seeing one of those stupid persons blamed him for bumping.  
  
 _You’re the one who bumped me. Are you that stupid to know that you’re the one who should ask for apologize?_  
  
Reita couldn’t even hold himself more when he saw Yamato tried hard to prevent his friends from starting the fight. He glared at him but received nothing. Yamato was too busy stopping his friends to realize the glare. He looked calm and just trying hard to stop his friends from making more troubles, and he almost threw everything bottled up on his heart when two policemen ran over them.  
  
Everybody stunned for a while before turned over and ran right away. He wanted to drag Yamato with him but it’s really impossible. Yamato’s friends would chase him to get Yamato back and started to beat him before he could explain that he just wanted to talk to Yamato, and his own friends wouldn’t let Yamato away if they knew that he got Yamato on his hand, and they would harm him before he could stop them.  
  
No.  
  
He couldn’t let that happened.  
  
 **“Reita!”**  
  
That tone.  
  
He remembered the tone.  
  
He longed for it.  
  
He longed for the caring tone when he called his name. It was always like that. A warm tone which melted his heart and made him turned over to see him.  
  
 _So you actually realized that I’m here._  
  
He tried to suppress the urge to run to Yamato and dragged him away from his stupid friends and just followed where his friends went. It would be very hard for him if the police caught him.  
  
 _Not now. I don’t want to get any trouble when I have a plan in front of me._  


  
~~~~

  
Reita looked straightly to his eyes. Yesterday fight was still clear in his mind. He saw how hard he tried to stop his friends.

_It was a fight. Why don’t you just join it? Don’t act all cool. Are they this important for you so you tried that hard to save them from troubles? I thought you forgot about what ‘friendship’ means._

**“What do you want?”**

Yamato moved forward and gulped.

_I’m sorry._

**“We are serious about graduating.”**

Reita looked at him in silent for a moment. He didn’t say a word. He just stared at Yamato.

_So, you really forgot about the promise. You betrayed me and now you want me to let you go?_

The anger grew rapidly again in his heart, suffocated him, and made him almost hard to breath. He moved forward to face him and didn’t even realize what he was talking about. He didn’t even understand why he said such harsh words to him. His mouth kept blabbering about not trusting the teachers. He let his anger took over him again, and snapped when Yamato yelled at him. He looked at him straight to his eyes. It was soft and warm. It made him stunned. He stood still and locked his eyes on him. He lost his words. His mind tried to digest all the truth he found from those eyes.

_So you still have that stare. Then why did you leave me? Why did you betray me?_

He didn’t know what to do so he just walked away.

_You have your reason, right? You didn’t have any intention to betray me. Am I wrong for judging you had betrayed me all these times?_   


  
~~~~

  
Lazily he walked in a very slow pace. He looked around the place and reminiscence the memories of happiness he had. The happiness they had. It was too beautiful to be remembered, too beautiful until it hurt to know that it was only the memory.

_What had happened? We promised. He promised. And he left me._

His steps stopped near the place he planned to go. The place where they made the promise to stay together no matter what. The place where all of the good memories created. The place he wanted to avoid lately.

There, he saw the familiar person lied down on the grass, face up to the sky, closing his eyes, and no moving. He just stood there for a while and the person stayed still too. He felt anger slowly crawled to his heart and he was ready to launch to straddle him when the person suddenly got up and stood silently while staring far away to the horizon.

Reita stunned.

The stare was blank.

A line of cry drawn clearly on his face but the latter gritted his jaw to prevent from crying. Reita saw him bit his lip hard before walked away from the place and he could only look at him in wonder. From the back Yamato looked so lonely and he looked like wanted to fall anytime. A question formed in his heart right away.

_What happened to you?_   


  
~~~~

  
“Isn’t it because of you are jealous over him?”

Reita stunned. He stopped eating and put his spoon on the plate silently.

_Am I?_

He looked up and found his mother took a seat in front of him and smiled.

“You’re jealous because he got new friends. You stuck on the thought that you’re the only best friend of him but you’re wrong. He made his path. He found his new world. He chose, and you aren’t there. You are not in his new world. That’s why you got jealous.”

“He betrayed me. He promised that we should go to Aoshiba but he wasn’t there.”

The mother smiled again.

“Then aside of letting yourself fall into unreasonable anger, why don’t you try to find out why he didn’t attend Aoshiba in the first place. That will be a good start to know everything.”

Reita silenced. Actually he had his plan to find the reason but his anger was always taken over him and stopped him to move further.

“Listen, dear.” The mother tapped his hand gently. “You can’t get everything you want at once. You planned you will be happy all your life but that’s impossible. You have to feel the life in sorrow too, because that will teach you to be a matured.”

Reita pouted slightly.

“I know. It’s just. We promised that we will stay together no matter what happen. With him suddenly avoiding me without any explanation, it made me mad at him.”

“Then face him properly. I knew that he has his reason. You knew it too. He always had a reason for everything, right? Then he must have his reason too this time. Make him talk too to you. If he avoids you, chase him and force him to face you. Don’t give up. There must be a chance for you to talk to him if you keep trying.”

Reita fell into silence for a moment. The picture of the almost crying Yamato kept flashing on his mind. He sighed and looked at his mother.

“I saw him almost crying this afternoon. He was staring blankly to the horizon and …, even though there’s no tear on his cheeks, I know that he was actually crying.”

The mother looked at him gently.

“Then why didn’t you approach him?”

“I don’t know. My feet stuck in the place where I stood. I lost my words. I didn’t even know what to do. He looked …, different. He was all cool and okay in school. I thought there’s nothing wrong with him. I thought he’s fine like he looked like.”

“But you’re wrong. There’s something with him. He is hiding something.”

Reita nodded at his mother’s words.

“Then you have to find out what it is.”

The woman stared at his son straight to his eyes.

“You promised me to find him and talk to him no matter what when you asked my permission to change school that day. And I gave you the permission because I trusted you that you could do whatever you wanted to do. Then prove me that I didn’t take the wrong decision to let you leave Aoshiba.”

Reita almost shivered at the stare. He never knew that his mother could give him the stare. She was a gentle so far he remembered, but now, he couldn’t even move because of the stare.

“You’ve been loitering around for nothing lately, and I think I should warn you that I won’t forgive you if you stay like this. You have to go back to your track and back to your first intention when you asked me to change school. And it is Yamato.”

The tone was stern until he couldn’t speak to respond. He just nodded obediently. He knew he was wrong. He had promised his mother not to disappoint her when he begged her to change school that day. He had promised her to find Yamato and talk to him properly to find out his reason, but he forgot all about it. He drowned to his new world. A strange world he never knew that it was even existed. He drowned into jealousy until he forgot his first intention. He found Yamato had made new friends and they looked enjoyed their days. He was mad until he forgot that he should ask him about his reason.

_So this is all because of my jealousy. I’m jealous over him when I saw him chattering around with his friends. He was so happy, and I suddenly fell into thought that he forgot about me. If I remember clearly, He was surprised when he saw me in Akadou few days ago._

_No._

_It wasn’t the first time we met after years. He saw me in that game center but he didn’t realize that it was me. Of course he was. I dyed my hair and he wouldn’t expect to meet me in such a place. It’s impossible for me to go to such a place if it was the old me._

_What a stupid person I am, blaming him for all of my unluckiness without realizing that it was all of my faults._   



	5. The Reason

_I’ve been avoiding him too long lately. I know something is happening. He was holding hard but I know he wanted to cry loudly. What happened, Yamato? Don’t you want to at least tell me?_  
  
He kicked the ball in front of his feet until it bounced down to the edge of the garden and hit the wall that separated his house with the Ogata’s resident. He looked at the ball silently. The picture of Yamato walk limply that night, the way he offended his offer to help him at first, and the way he shed his tears which stubbornly rolled down his cheeks. There’s no way he would be that blue because of a fight. Fighting had been his life, and the wounds caused by fighting had been a part of his life. It’s really impossible he cried because of it. There must be something else.  
  
 _Besides, it was his graduation day. There’s no way he fought on that day. It was the most important day in his life. What is it, Yamato? What are you hiding of?_  
  
He got up and hesitantly walked over the ball. When he reached for the ball, he heard something crashed behind the fence. He stopped and looked at the brick.  
  
 _“Are we going to keep silent? He was definitely abused. We have to do something.”_  
  
Reita stunned in his place.  
  
 _Odagiri? What is he doing here? Who is abused?_  
  
 _“Ryu! You’re too loud._ ” The voice of an old man hissed loud enough for him to hear.  
  
 _“I’m sorry, but seriously we have to do something. You can’t close your eyes just like that. He was definitely abused. He was even raped. Not just once but I believe it happened many times before this.”_  
  
 _Raped? Who?_  
  
Reita’s eyes widened at the word. He gripped his own hand tightly.  
  
 _“What do you mean by this wasn’t just once. Did this happen before too?”_  
  
There’s no reply. All was silent.  
  
 _“I demand you to answer me, young men. Or I will ask Yamato myself about the rape.”_  
  
Reita gaped. His eyes widened more and he gripped his hand until his knuckles turned white.  
  
 _“We realized it when we found him for the first time months ago.”_  
  
Another voice, deep and calm, answered the questions.  
  
 _“We hoped it was nothing. We hoped it was just because he was at the wrong place and the wrong time and met with the wrong people, but we found that we’re wrong. He said it wasn’t the first time when he woke up by the morrow.”_  
  
 _“You just told me that he was abused. Why didn’t you tell me this one?”_  
  
No more answer for a moment, but Reita heard more than enough. He stood still in his place and didn't move. His mind was full of the picture of Yamato. His smile and his confident when he saved him from a fight on his graduation day. He saw nothing but a proud. That time he finally agreed his mother that he was just jealous over him all this time. That he had found his new path, that he found his new world where he wasn't included at all, but it's okay. He could understand finally. He had his friends and their smile were pure from their heart, and Yamato looked enjoyed his life with them, a lot. So what was bothering him when all he wanted was to see him live his life happily? He should let go. And he had decided to let it go when he saw his smiles. But now, that smile, and that confident faded away. His mind could only remember the picture of Yamato walked limply that night. He could only remember his tears. He could only remember the fragile figure in front of him.  
  
 _Since when? Why didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you fight back? Why you kept silent all this time? You have your friends around you, right? They won’t keep silent if they knew this. Why didn’t you tell them? How could you still smile with all of those suffering?_  
  
 _And I wasn’t there for him. I even avoided him all this times. What had I done? Who stayed beside him all these times?_  
  
Weakly he walked back to the house and closed the door of his room silently. He gulped many times.  
  
 _What should I do now? I have to talk to him. I should be there for him. At least he knew that I forgave him. At least he knew that I'm there for him so he won't feel lonely. At least he knew that he is not alone._  
  
He almost ran out of his house to reach the Ogata resident. He even jumped over the fence when he found the gate was locked. But he saw no one in the garden.  
  
 _Where were those guys? They were here, weren’t they?_  
  
He moved around to the back door and found it’s unlocked. He almost ran again through the stairs to the second floor where Yamato’s room located. Abruptly he opened his door and found no one in the room. He looked around. It was empty. He found no sign of Yamato. But then he heard a soft sound from the bathroom. He walked over and opened the door and gasped when he saw him holding a bottle of pills. Unconsciously he grabbed his wrist and took over the bottle.  
  
He couldn’t even know what happened next. His mind was always telling him to comfort Yamato so he did his best to do it. He didn’t even remember what he said. But he found himself sat on the couch near the window with a book on his hand. He looked at the book and lost his interest.  
  
 _Why did I take this one?_  
  
He then stood up to put the book back on the shelf and moved to the bed. He sat down the edge and carefully stared at his best friend’s sleeping face.  
  
 _You have changed. A lot. I couldn’t feel the warm aura from you when I found you for the first time months ago. You looked tough and your eyes were like telling everyone to stay away from you. Your glare made me shivered somehow. But it turned out to be only your skin. You act tough to hide your suffer. You don’t want anybody to get near you because you don’t want anyone found out what your real face is._  
  
 _And I could only care about that promise. And I could only blame you to betray our promise without knowing what you had been through. Is this why you break our promise? Is this why you turn away from me? You don’t want me to get involve to your life because I will easily found out what you had tried to hide. And of course I will meddle myself to your life. Of course I will try hard to save you. Of course I will … wait!_  
  
He touched his cheek carefully.  
  
 _Who did this to you? Who hurt you this bad until you don’t want me to know everything you’ve been through? Do I know that person? Who? Why are you trying hard to hide this? Is it going to hurt someone if you tell even somebody that you were abused?_  
  
His eyes widened when a face popped out on his mind.  
  
 _No way. I wasn’t him, was he? He was a nice person. He was always becoming your main supporter in everything you did? Was he? There’s no way he did all of those things to you? There’s no way he hurt you._  
  
He was startled when the door opened and revealed Yuichi. The older himself almost gasped at him but then they could stare each other for a moment before the older gave him a sign to follow.  
  
Reita stood up and walked out of the room. “I have something in my mind and I want to voice out all of it.”  
  
“Not here. Let’s go to the kitchen.”  
  
The elder welcomed him in silent stare. His curiosity rose to the level where he wanted to grab one of those persons to tell him everything but he suppressed it because he knew he was just an intruder at the time. He entered the house with no one’s permission.  
  
“I’m his cousin. Him too. Our mother’s are sisters.”  
  
Reita looked up to Ryu who spoke like he knew what he was thinking about. He then followed where he pointed at and found another person who had the same aura with him.  
  
“And he is our grandfather.”  
  
Reita bowed at the only old man in the room. He was somehow shivered when the old man stared at him without blinking. He felt like he was trying to peel him alive.  
  
“And I know what you’re thinking about. And yes, he was the one who do the abusing.”  
  
Reita couldn’t hide his surprise when he heard the news. He looked at the older, tried to find the joke in his eyes but failed. No joke at all and he only found seriousness in his voice.  
  
“We’re going to finish this and for that we need your help.”  
  
He looked at the older, asked him in silent what he could do.  
  
“Stay here and don’t leave him even a second. Make him stay in this house until we’re back and hide his phone away from him. Can you do that?”  
  
Reita nodded furiously and could only stare at the elder when they walked away out of the house.  



	6. I'm Here. Where Are You?

It was all black.  
  
He couldn’t see anything but black. His face, his hair, his body. All of them covered with the black liquid. It was dark that night. Only the gloomy light of the garden guided him to the lump caught by his eyes that night. A lump slumped on the pebbles walk near the big tree. Tried hard to ease his heart beat to stay calm, he walked over, just to be stunned at the sight he found.  
  
He froze in his place, and lost his words. His throat dried so sudden. He gulped but felt a lump on his throat made him hard to do it.  
  
“Yamato?”  
  
He called him with a very weak voice. He wanted to shout but even he himself couldn’t hear clearly the sound came out from his mouth. It was too weak. He kneeled down in front of the lump and reached out. He touched the hair. It’s wet.  
  
“Yamato. Get up. What are you doing here?”  
  
No reaction. The lump didn’t move. It stayed still. He smiled.  
  
“Come on. You will get cold if you sleep here. Let’s move to your room.”  
  
He caressed his arm.  
  
“I will cover you with your thick blanket. I will turn the heater on so you will get all the comfort you should get. And I will stay there and will never leave you. Come on. Get up.”  
  
His hand shook hard when he heard no answer. Tears rolled down on his cheek uncontrollably. He grabbed Yamato’s fingers and gripped them hard.  
  
“Come on. You shouldn’t stay here. It’s not good for your body. Come on, get up.”  
  
He didn’t know how. He couldn’t feel anything. His mind was blank. He didn’t even know who separated him from his friend. He’d been dragged away to the terrace by somebody but he didn’t know who. His eyes couldn’t avert from Yamato. He was lying helplessly on the pebbles walk. Alone. He could only stared at the body even when some people took him away in a white car with blue and red light on top of it, and a really loud sound slashing his heart with its continuous scream.  
  
 _I promised you to stay here for you. So I will stay here for you. Don’t worry. I will always stay here for you. I will never break my promise. I’ll give you all the comfort you need. I’ll keep you warm so you won’t feel lonely again. I’ll make sure that nobody will hurt you anymore._  
  
He stood up and weakly stepped in to the house. He walked so slowly like he was counting the number of step he’d been walked until he reached Yamato’s room. He took the blanket with him and walked out the house. But he found no one on the pebbles walk. He looked around. Still, found nothing but empty place surrounded with eerie atmosphere which suffocated him more.  
  
 _Where are you?_  
  
He gripped the blanket tightly like afraid that if his grip loosened somebody would take it away from him.  
  
 _Yamato will get cold again if he doesn’t wear this blanket. He won’t be able to sleep soundly if he doesn’t cover himself with this blanket. I have to keep it clean and neat so he can use it anytime he needs it._  
  
He just walked away from the Ogata resident when a hand pulled him gently. Many times he looked back to the pebbles walk and still found nothing. His friend wasn’t there anymore.  
  
It’s empty.  
  
Like his heart.  



End file.
